Farmers extend rail-roko protest till October 21
On the 24th day of the agitation, around 100 women extended support to the farmers’ cause by laying stoves, rolling pins and boards on the railway tracks
chandigarh Updated: Oct 17, 2020, 17:30 IST
Farmers on Saturday extended the ‘rail-roko’ stir against the contentious farm laws till October 21.
On the 24th day of the agitation, around 100 women extended support to the farmers’ cause by laying stoves, rolling pins and boards on the Amritsar-Delhi railway tracks and prepared chapatis. The women and children raised slogans and raised rolling pins demanding that the ‘black law’ be scrapped.
General secretary of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharash Committee (KMSC), which is spearheading the protest on the tracks in Devidaspura village, Sarwan Singh Pandher, said “We have extended the rail-roko protest till October 21. The decision was taken during a state committee meeting”.
Pandher said, “The Prime Minister says the government will double the income of the farmers but refuses to address our concerns. It is a matter of record that between 1970 and 2020, the price of agricultural equipments has increased 130 times while the price of crops has increased 19 times only. Similarly, there has been a substantial increase in the income of the employees and remuneration of the MLAs. How will this gap be covered? The claims of increasing farmers’ income is not true as the prices of fertilisers, labour and agricultural equipments are still increasing.”
He said, “BJP leaders in Punjab should resign from their posts and stand by the farmers if they are really concerned about the state and its farmers. These leaders are speaking against the farmers’ agitation on behalf of the Centre.”
Lashing out on the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab, Pandher said, “The state government has been spreading rumours about shortage of coal in thermal plants. The state government wants to sabotage the farmers’ agitation.”
